Getting in the Groove
by I'vebeenLOKI'Dyetagain
Summary: Groot starts dancing, freezing whenever Drax looks over. One by one, the other Guardians catch on, playing a game of dance-like-nobody's-watching-but-freeze-when-Drax-is-watching. Drax is confused. Groot, Peter and Gamora are having a great time. Rocket wants nothing to do with any of it. Too bad Groot doesn't give him a choice.


**So, I've seen "Guardians of the Galaxy" twice now, and I loved it! I dared my sister, FrostedFangirl7413, to write a short one-shot about GotG, and then it kind of ended up where if she wrote one, I would write one... **

**And this happened ;D Based on the short scene before the credits where little!Groot was dancing in his pot, and froze when Drax looked around, then went back to dancing. (He was so adorable!)**

**Anyways, I hope you enjoy! This is just for fun - I don't own these characters, people!**

* * *

_**Getting in the Groove  
**_

* * *

Drax the Destroyer was sharpening his knife, when he caught movement out of the corner of his eye.

He whipped his head around, eyes narrowed, scrutinizing the room. There was nothing suspicious. Nobody had come in, the small Groot was still in his pot of soil, every object was where it should be. There were no suspicious noises, only Drax's own silent breaths and the 'music' that was constantly playing in the background on Peter Quill's ship. Personally, Drax didn't understand the point of music or why Peter seemed to enjoy it so much, but it didn't bother Drax any, so he merely ignored it.

Drax went back to sharpening his knife.

* * *

Music filled the cabin, and Groot felt this sort of warm, tickling feeling inside, filling him up till he felt compelled to move along with it.

He started nodding his head to the beat. It felt good, like scratching a really, really bad itch.

Groot lifted his arms from his sides and began swaying his entire body to the music, a smile blooming on his face.

Drax whipped his head around towards him, and Groot froze, expression going blank and innocent. He blinked.

Drax went back to sharpening his knife, and Groot grinned and got back into the groove.

* * *

Bobbing his head to the tune, Peter lip-sank the words to the Jackson 5's song, "I Want You Back," as he walked down the corridor of his ship.

"Hey Drax," he greeted, coming into the room. "What's up?"

Drax turned his gaze upwards, frowning in confusion, before glancing back at Quill. "The ceiling," he answered seriously. "What is the purpose of such an inquiry?"

"It's..." Peter sighed, running a hand threw his hair, "It's just an expression, man. It means: how're you doing?"

"Then why didn't you ask that to begin with?" Drax grunted, turning his attention back to the knife he was sharpening.

Peter just shook his head as he cast his gaze around the room.

Groot was in his pot on the table, perfectly still, trunk curved and arms held in fluid positions away from his sides. Groot blinked at Peter, who was tapping his foot to the music, and raised a questioning eyebrow, glancing between Groot and Drax.

The song changed to Redbone's "Come And Get Your Love," and Peter's face lit up. He began moving his shoulders and hips and feet, twirling and grooving his way to the door on the other side of the room.

A grin slowly spread over Groot's face, and he resumed his dancing.

Drax glanced up, and they both froze, Groot in the middle of a body-roll and Peter in the middle of kicking the air.

"What are you doing?" Drax asked Quill.

"Um," Peter said, glancing at his foot that he was holding still in the air, then at the door, then back at the Destroyer. "I was... just about to kick open this door—"

The door burst open, and Gamora strode in. She glanced between Peter and Drax, who were both staring at her, Peter looking like he got caught doing something and was trying not to look guilty or sheepish or supicious, and Drax looking stern as usual, and pretty befuddled as well. Which was not unusual—he tended to look like that while talking to the Star-Lord.

"What's going on?" she asked.

Sensing that nobody was looking at him, Groot started dancing again, swaying to the beat and grooving his arms.

Gamora sensed the movement, glancing over. Groot stilled.

"Gamora!" Peter exclaimed, setting his foot back on the ground and straightening up. "Just the lady I was looking for! I wanted to show you something—"

Drax lost interest and stopped listening, going back to sharpening his knife and thinking about other things.

"Let me just reorganize stuff a bit," Peter said, beginning to 'clean up' the room (aka pushing everything against the walls), before stepping into the middle of the floor he'd just cleared.

The song changed to "Cherry Bomb" by The Runaways, and he started moving his body in ways she'd never seen anybody else but him move, grooving all the way from his feet to the tips of his fingers to his head. He mouthed the lyrics as he danced, making dramatic expressions, while she just watched, eyebrows raised and lips quirking in amusement.

At the end of the song, he dropped to his knees and made a dramatic hand motion.

Just then, Drax looked up. Peter froze. Drax's brows furrowed as he saw Peter kneeling on the floor with one hand on his chest and the other in the air.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"I'm, uh," Peter looked up at Gamora, and then over at Drax, "showing Gamora ways that different cultures across the galaxy propose marriage?"

Gamora raised an eyebrow at this, a smirk pulling at her lips.

"Why?" Drax asked, looking even more confused.

"Because it's interesting?" Peter said, still holding the pose. "This is how Terran people do it."

"_Really?" _Gamora said, both eyebrows raised now.

"Really," Peter nodded.

"That is absurd," Drax commented, before going back to sharpening his knife some more.

"Come on," Peter said to Gamora, as "Escape (The Pina Colada Song)" by Rupert Holmdes started playing and he stood up and started to foot it. "Dance. You know you wanna."

Hesitantly, Gamora started nodding her head to the beat. Slowly, she got her torso into it and started moving her feet.

Peter grinned encouragingly.

The song changed to "O-O-H Child" by The Five Stairsteps, and Peter started to really get down, Gamora smiling slightly as she remembered the last time she'd watched him dance to this song, when he'd been distracting Ronan the Accuser.

"Gamora!" he said, offering her his hand.

This time, she took it.

As Peter spun her around, Gamora caught sight of Groot grooving in his pot. She could have sworn the sentient plant gave her a thumbs-up.

"There you all are!" Rocket said as he walked into the room, the dancers freezing immediately. "I've been lookin' all over the ship for ya!"

He paused as he caught sight of the position Gamora and Peter were in, Peter holding Gamora's hand in the air above her head while her other arm was held out to her side.

"Are you still demonstrating different methods of proposing marriage?" Drax asked them.

"Wait, _what?!" _Rocket said, snickering. "They're—"

"Actually," Peter said, "Gamora was trying to punch me—but she's not going to now, right?" he glanced at her and gave her tilted grin.

Gamora's fist hit his face. "Don't count on it," she said, tearing her other hand from his and stepping away from him.

"Ow!" Peter exclaimed, rubbing his face. "That hurt! You could've broken my nose!"

"She punches well," Drax observed.

Gamora glanced at him. "Thank you," she said.

Drax went back to working on his blade.

As soon as his attention was diverted elsewhere, Groot began swaying in his pot, and Gamora took Peter's hand again, lifting his hand and making him spin.

"What? No—Gamora, _I'm _the guy, _I'm _supposed to do the leading!"

"Shut up and dance," Gamora said.

"Whoa, what did I miss?" Rocket asked, watching confoundedly.

"I am Groot," Groot told him, while swaying and moving his arms in fluid, graceful motions.

"Dancing?!" Rocket said, "I knew Quill was crazy, but since when do you and Gamora_ dance?"_

"I am Groot."

Rocket crossed his arms, glaring at his best friend. "Hell no I'm not dancing!"

"Groot's right: get over here!" Peter called, pulling Gamora into a bunny-hug, twirling her out of it, then twirling her back in. "If _Gamora_ can learn to dance, then so can you."

"No way!" Rocket said stubbornly.

Drax glanced over at them, to see them all frozen in place, Peter holding Gamora's hands, one of his arms behind her and one in front of her so that she was standing close in front of him facing the same way he was.

"What are you—?"

"Restraining her," Peter cut in. "She keeps trying to—hngg!"

Gamora had elbowed him in the gut, whirling around to kick him in the chest, knocking him to the floor.

"I thought we weren't supposed to kill each other in Quill's ship," Drax stated.

"Oh, I'm not going to kill him," Gamora said, giving him another kick when he tried to get up, making him groan again. "Just rough him up a bit."

Drax nodded in understanding. "Oh. Okay," he said, before turning his attention back to his dagger, which was probably, by this point, clean and sharp enough to cut anyone who so much as _looked _at it.

"Ugh," Peter said, as Gamora helped him back up to his feet. "You're really enjoying this, aren't you?"

"Yes," Gamora smiled. "It is... pleasing."

"The dancing, or beating up Star-Lord?" Rocket asked, from where he was now sitting on the table next to Groot's pot, whiskers twitching in amusement.

"Both," Gamora answered.

"Careful," Peter warned, glaring slightly as he rubbed his side where she'd kicked him. "You hit me too much, I'm gonna start hitting back."

"You're the one who keeps making excuses," she shot back.

Groot was swaying in his pot. "I am Groot."

"You like it better when they're dancing?" Rocket asked the plant, raising his white eyebrows. "Really? I rather prefer the fighting. The _fighting _I understand and can appreciate. This dancing thing? Frankly, it's ridiculous! What kind of self-respecting—hey!"

Peter had grabbed Rocket's hand and dragged him out onto the floor.

"Come on, Ranger Rick," Peter said, beginning to bring it down hard, "Get that stick out of your ass and dance, man!"

"I am Groot," Groot agreed from his pot as he grooved, bringing it down as hard as he could while staying in place, grinning hugely.

"Now you're just ganging up on me!" Rocket complained. "And I do not have a stick up my ass!"

"What, are you afraid to loosen up a little?" Gamora asked as she danced, a small smile on her face.

By now the tape had wrapped back around to the beginning, and "Hooked on a Feeling" by Blue Swede was playing.

"Well, even if I _wanted _to dance," Rocket huffed, arms crossed, "which I _don't, _by the way, I don't even know _how _to dance."

"I am Groot," Groot said, reaching over to poke Rocket softly in the shoulder, then resumed his swaying and waving to the beat.

"Just copy what you're doing?" Rocket asked skeptically. "I hardly think—"

"I am Groot," Groot insisted.

Rocket sighed heavily, reluctantly getting up to his feet. "_Fine_."

And with that, he stood in place, waving his arms and tail around randomly. "There, I'm copying you. You happy now? I'm dancing. We're all dancing, like a bunch of idiots."

"I am Groot."

"I'm doing it wrong? What do you mean I'm doing it wrong?! I'm doing the exact same thing that you're doing!"

"I think what Groot is trying to say, Rocket," Peter interjected, "is that you're not getting in the _groove._ You've got to _feel _the music, man. Feel the beat. That's what makes the difference between _dancing, _and standing there and waving your arms around."

"That doesn't make any sense!" Rocket protested, throwing his arms up in annoyance. "That's it! I'm done with this!"

He started to walk away, but Groot reached his arms out, grabbing at Rocket's arm.

"I am Groot," Groot said, blinking.

Rocket shook the plant's arm off. "No, Groot. That's it! I'm done! I'm not dancing!"

Rocket jumped off the table, Groot leaning after him.

When Rocket kept going and didn't look back, Groot's mouth thinned, and he pulled his legs out of the soil.

The next thing Rocket knew, wooden arms were wrapping around him and lifting him up.

"I am Groot."

"What? No! Groot, put me down!"

* * *

The next time Drax looked up, Gamora had her arms above her head and was swaying her hips, Peter was doing some sort of shuffle, and Rocket was doing a handstand _on Groot's shoulders_, as Groot was now much larger than the last time Drax had seen him.

And Groot... Groot was grooving, head and trunk and arms and _legs _and all.

All of them were smiling and had their eyes closed—well, except for Rocket, who had his eyes open and was _grinning._

Drax's eyes went wide. "What is going on?!" he demanded, lurching up to his feet.

"What does it look like?!" Rocket called, shifting so he was only standing on one paw, waving the other one. "We're dancing, you jackass! What are _you _doing just _standing there?!_ Get over here and hoof it!"

"I do not have hooves," Drax said, frowning.

Peter sighed. "It's just an expression, man," he explained, as he continued his sort of spinning and skipping thing, feet and arms flailing everywhere. "It means to _dance."_

"I don't dance," Drax said simply, turning and walking out of the room.

"And that," Peter said, "is why we didn't invite him to join us, and just played freeze-whenever-Drax-is-looking."

Still in a handstand and waving his feet and tail around, Rocket shrugged. "His loss."

"I am Groot!"

"You said it, Groot. Let's bring it down hard!"

* * *

**I just love the ********alliteration and the assonance** of "Groot" and the word "groove" X3 

**And I also love reviews! ;3 **


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